Monster Hunter: World producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, directors Kaname Fujioka and Yuya Tokuda recently spoke with Inside Gamesto share some last minute tidbits before the game releases later this month.

Inside Games: Please tell us about the reaction from the first and second beta tests thus far.

Ryozo Tsujimoto, Producer: “As far as server stress test goes, we were able to get some significant data. We also received good reception from the players that got to play. We were able to get reception on Kulu-Ya-Ku, a monster that was thrown in without having been introduced, so I think it’s been a good beta test.”

What kind of feedback did you receive in the beta test? Will there be any influences from them before the release date?

Tsujimoto: “For this product, we’re changing parts for options as well as controls and such. There are plenty of parts we can do as we’ve done before, but I was seeing some parts that weren’t explained well enough in this beta test, so I want to thoroughly go through any kind of feedback about parts that were ‘difficult to understand’.”

How was the loading for the beta test?

Tsujimoto: “We had a lot of people participate, and I’m just glad we did it.”

Was there more people than expected?

Tsujimoto: “I would say so.”

Yuya Tokuda, Director: “It was in the middle of the night in Japan when it started, so it was unexpected to see that many from Japan.”

Kaname Fujioka, Director: “There are all kinds of troubles that happen when it comes to network, so after testing several parts things went pretty smoothly the second time around. The first one was very beneficial for us, and we were able to make proper fixes for the second so it left good results. The beta tests have been meaningful in their own ways to us.”

The beta test took place worldwide, so how was the overseas reaction?

Tsujimoto: “The action parts were well-received in overseas. There are actually a lot of folks overseas who’ve yet to touch Monster Hunter, so we wanted to get them to learn about the game cycle through videos and try out the action parts for themselves (with the beta tests), and I think it was very effective.”

Fujioka: “I heard that a lot more people than expected got to play, so I hope to keep it going from here.”

In the recent trailer we got to hear Deviljho’s BGM. Will there be exclusive BGMs for the likes of Teostra and Kushala Daora?

Tokuda: “We’re properly preparing exclusive BGMS for those who have them. We’re also arranging all kinds of (movements) for the game, which I think has been well worth the effort.”

How’s the extra effort that is put into the story coming along?

Tokuda: “Rather than the image of taking on key quests as we’ve done up until now, it’ll be more about accepting missions as you advance through the story. We’re putting more effort than ever into having you play while advancing through the story. Up until now the story would go on through Low Rank, but this time since you’ll get to play everything through multiplayer we’ve designed a proper storyline that will go from Low Rank to High Rank. I hope you all get to enjoy the story until the very end.”

After some gameplay we briefly saw a message saying “Event has been added.” Will there be a way to watch encounter scenes and such after you’ve already seen them?

Tsujimoto: “I’m thinking about adding a gallery in a release date update. So maybe we’ll have you guys watch them there. This time there won’t be any movies at all, but rather, real-time demonstrations that show everything (such as the player’s equipment and such).”

We’ve seen quite the number of monsters in all the trailers up until now, but are there already some monsters that have yet to be revealed?

Tokuda: “There’s some info we weren’t able to fit in. There are some parts we want you guys to see when you actually play the game, so we hope you look forward to that. Again, we’ll be adding monsters through updates so look forward to that as well.”

How are you thinking of handling and releasing G-rank at this moment?

Tsujimoto: (on G-rank) We still haven’t decided. For the time being, we’re thinking about updating the current system and adding monsters and such several times. First and foremost, we want to do proper updates and have players continue playing Monster Hunter: World itself before anything.”

Fujioka: “We’re thinking of ways to give more replay elements or a way to expand on the gameplay, so please look forward to something like that.”

When you start out solo and damage a monster then it goes to multiplayer when others join, what happens to the monster’s remaining health?

Fujioka: “Of course the damage will carry over, and the damage given will be reflected when it goes into multiplayer.”

Tsujimoto: “It won’t go to nothing or anything like that.”

Will the monster’s health change based on the number of participating players?

Fujioka: “While there is a difference in health between solo and multiplayer, it’s not that different whether there’s two or four players.”

Thank you for having answered all kinds of questions. We’re looking forward to the release date.

Monster Hunter: World releases on January 26, 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. A PC version will arrive this fall. The game’s third and final beta test with an added Nergigante fight starts on January 18. You can read more on that in our previous report.